CHARACTERIZATION OF 1/1 HETEROBIMETALLIC COMPLEXES OF (ETA-5-C5ME5)IR(CO)2 WITH ZINC, CADMIUM AND MERCURY(II) CHLORIDE AND THE X-RAY STRUCTURE DETERMINATION OF THE 1/2 MERCURY COMPLEX

(Eta5-C5Me5)Ir(CO)2 reacts with ZnCl2, CdCl2 or HgCl2 to produce the heterobimetallic complexes (eta5-C5Me5)(CO)2IrMCl2 (M = Zn (1), Cd (2), Hg (3a)) and [(eta5-C5Me5)(CO)2IrHgCl][HgCl3] (3b). The X-ray crystal structure of 3b shows that the iridium atom adopts a three-legged piano stool coordination geometry, with two terminal CO ligands and an unbridged nearly linear, Ir-Hg-Cl group (Ir-Hg(1) = 2.587(1) angstrom and Ir-Hg(1)-Cl(1) = 172.1(2)-degrees). The [HgCl3]- anion is linked by Hg(2) to the Cl(1) atom of the cation (Hg(2)...Cl(1) 2.914(6) angstrom) and through Cl(3) to the Hg(1) atom of a neighboring symmetry-related cation with Hg(1)...Cl(3) 3.011(5) angstrom.